Day Five: Maranatha

This earth is not what it should be. The ravages of sin are everywhere, evidenced by all the hurt, disease, broken families, addiction, Christless morality and the list could go on. Here we are, caught between the first blow to the head of the Serpent and the coming Final Blow that will forever crush his head.

Romans 8 makes it clear that all of the God-made creation is fully aware of this brokenness and is crying out to God to hasten the day of Christ’s return! Upon that glorious return, God will make sin and all its ravaging realities come untrue; he will undo it to its very core! However, as the Lord’s Prayer rightly teaches us, that sure and coming day ought not cause us to sit idly by, looking at the sky simply waiting for the clouds to split open. Rather, the full assurance of the Kingdom fully come is meant to drive the people of God into radical prayer for that Kingdom to come on earth NOW as it is in Heaven.

Amidst the rubble of relational turmoil, rogue cancer cells, devastating genocide, etc. the hearts of God’s people have a responsibility to identify with those who suffer and to seek the Father in believing faith on their behalf. Begging him to heal, to restore, to execute justice, to grant mercy and strength, to intervene with wisdom and means far beyond our own capacity.

Today, may we step into the suffering around us, not as empathetic yet distant bystanders but as those who know the One who holds the whole earth in his hands and stands ready to hear and respond to the prayers of his people. May WE, along with the trees, streams, grass and mountains, be driven to desperate prayer by the awareness that things here aren’t as they should be. Let us join in the chorus of creation as we cry, “Maranatha…Come Lord Jesus.”